After the Final Song
by Dust in the Light-Crisi
Summary: C.C. seeks Lelouch's spirit out in C's World to propose a new contract. Meanwhile leaders all around the globe are being assassinated, fostering distrust and fear. This time the shadow of a mask belongs not to Zero but with the enemy. R&R


**Posting an explosion of old fics I've been working on today. This is a piece I came up with quite a while ago and I do have a clear direction for it. However, I will be working on this irregularly: forewarning. I have one piece I'm attempting to devote most of my attention to still, but I feel like this piece needed to come out.**

**Basically, this is a reincarnation fic. Next chapter I'll be setting up the plot more.**

* * *

><p>White.<p>

That was all there was for Lelouch to be conscious of. A massive, overwhelming sensation of colorlessness. Vast and empty slabs of white. Honestly, he didn't know if it was solid or vacuous, nor could he grasp how far it extended. All he knew was that it was there.

It was…disappointing how empty this new world was.

He'd been to C's World and even though he didn't know what it was like from the other side of life, he hadn't expected this. One moment there was a world, full of sounds and colors and bright, hot pain. Full of his sister sobbing and warmth dribbling from his abdominals and people gasping and red, so much red and copper burning his nostrils. The next someone had flipped the switch and EVERYTHING turned off.

Was this eternity? Was this emptiness what C.C. so desperately sought? Or didn't she know that this was what had awaited her? He didn't see what was so great about spending eternity here. Why had she craved death so feverously?

_Do you still have a reason for living?_

That voice…that voice? That voice…no, it couldn't be here. It couldn't follow him here. Unless here wasn't where he thought here was.

_Shall I pull back the veil?_

The next instant there was more. There was still white but there was more…to be exact there was home. The place he'd cherished and longed for in all its pristine glory. No, that wasn't quite right. It wasn't just one of the places he loved it was both…or rather, all three. It was Aeries and Ashford and the Shrine. The three places where he lived huge chunks of his life. That meant so, so much in his life, mixed together in a way that should have been comical, but somehow it worked. His three worlds, the prince, the pauper, and the peasant smoothly steamrolled into one complete picture.

There was something different though. Different from any of the three in fact. Paintings were tacked upon the walls. Lelouch leaned in to examine one and found defiant green eyes staring back at him while a miniature version of himself lay sprawled out across the ground, a fresh purple bruise materializing on his cheek. He unconsciously found himself cradling the same spot, as if he had just been struck that very moment by Suzaku once more.

He scanned the wall space around it and found several memories from the Shrine. Learning to cook for the first time on his own (he'd burnt his hands and undercooked his own chicken, leading to a late night retching due to food poisoning)…teaching Nunnally Braille (he learned first and almost forced it on her at times, refusing to speak at lengths for weeks till she finally consented to try and learn)…playing in the river with Suzaku and Nunnally…that time Suzaku and he stole a car(Suzaku had said he'd driven before…but he conveniently left out that it was on a video game). Lelouch let a wistful smile curve up his lips before his eyes caught the images from further down on the wall. He glanced away, refusing to acknowledge the weeks they'd spent on the run, three kids trying to survive a warzone…blood and fire and ash and decay. The memories that still plagued his nights even seven years after the fact.

On the opposite wall, numerous other photos depicted him in various scenarios at Ashford. That silly talent show Milly had insisted he sing in (he had a horrible singing voice but somehow still managed to get third place oddly enough). The day Shirley tried her hand at playing chess with him (he had her trapped in four terms). Various school-wide events (the most painful of which was cross-dressing day. He was, once more, mentally scared by the sight of Suzaku and Rivalz in dresses and highly embarrassed of his own attire). The school festivals…

The next wall was covered in the memories most distant to him…the ones he'd disconnected himself with the most. His days as Prince Lelouch vi Britannia, the young son of Empress Marianne. Clovis pouting and the ensuing temper tantrum he'd had after losing to Lelouch the twentieth time in chess. The time Euphy covered his face in makeup after they'd gotten in a petty argument (eyeliner is a bitch to remove, he learned). Schnizel tutoring him on his form while Cornelia engaged him in a friendly fencing match. And his mother carrying him home after he fell asleep in church (she didn't even reprimand him that time.)

The next memories he met were more recent and not all of them so lighthearted. Shirley kissing him and helping Rolo with his math homework and then both of them dead before him. Shooting a bloodstained Euphy side by side with her gathering fruit at Kamane Island. Clovis with a bullet between his eyes while a semi-shell-shocked Lelouch just stood there, shaking. Kallan dressed in a bunny suit. Her slapping the refrain from his hands. His temper getting the better of him as he smacked C.C.. Her holding him tightly. Nunnally defying Zero. Lelouch passing the mask off to Suzaku.

It all culminated to one final picture, a hazy view of his sister's face. The tears in her eyes as she held him close, as if she could stop his life from slipping away just by holding him tight enough. His life slipped through her fingers, like tiny granules of sand easing through an hourglass.

"So many memories for such a short life." A voice reflected beside him and he startled a little before reigning himself in.

"Yes, it was short. But it was full, and I'm ready to let it go." He answered, catching C.C.'s amber eyes.

"Are you now? Many people would give anything to live the way you have. The way you did. Yet you cast it away so easily…for Nunnally's sake?" She asked, one eyebrow raised.

"In a heart beat."

"And if I told you Nunnally is in danger?"

"Then I would say there's not much I can do about it. It's over for me. She has Zero…Suzaku would never let her down."

C.C. frowned. "True. Lelouch, do you know why you're here?"

"I imagine you still want me to fulfill our contract. Regretfully I no longer live so I can't do that now can I?"

C.C. shot him a knowing look. "Even in death's grasp, you're still arrogant."

"And even in my mind you're still a witch." Lelouch shot back.

"I'm not here about our old contract. I'm here to explain the terms of a new one you're being offered."

"By you?"

"Perhaps." C.C. replied evasively, turning away from him.

Lelouch raised a brow, his interest piqued. "What deal could you possibly offer me?"

She spun back towards him, her eyes boring deeply into him. "Life."

"I don't want it. I gave it up. It would be…difficult to return to my life now." He answered without giving it a second's thought. After all, he'd even made his own funeral arrangements and they were…permanent.

"I'm not talking about life as Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia. I'm not even talking about life as Lelouch Lamperouge. You will exist by a different name, a different body. As a different person."

Lelouch considered her for a moment. C.C. was powerful, but was she powerful enough to do something like this? The implications of what she was implying…well, it sounded like reincarnation. "Will I still even be me if that's the case?"

"A philosophical question." She paused. "What makes you…you, Lelouch? Is it your physical appearance? Your name? The way your mind works? Your heritage or your friends perhaps?"

"My memories." Lelouch answered, crossing his arms. "Everything else falls in line afterward."

"Then you'll still be Lelouch. Deep down in any case. The memories won't be readily there…but if you call for them they will come." She was suddenly standing right over him, his chin caught in her palm. "Do we have a deal?"

"Perhaps but…what are you getting out of it?" He asked.

"What? I can't simply just miss your company?" She smirked obnoxiously. He just stared till the offending expression slipped from her face and she let out a small sigh. "You're stubborn…Lelouch…what do you think it's all for? What do you think I am for?"

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what purpose do I serve, Lelouch? Why does Geass exist? Or Codes?"

Lelouch's brows pinched in. "That's not what I asked, C.C."

"I know…but if you can answer me that, I'll tell you what I want."

Lelouch massaged his forehead. "Only you would make a deal to explain another deal. You truly are a living migraine, you know that?"

"I try." She snickered then fell silent for a long moment. "Well?"

"How am I supposed to know?" He snapped.

"You're not." She replied smugly. "But I won't give you an answer as to what I want until you can tell me that. Now, once more, do we have a deal?"

Lelouch sighed. The last time he'd made a contract with her she refused to tell him just what she wanted from him for more than a year. That time, she was trying to con him into taking on a wretched curse she no longer wanted to bear. Did he dare put his faith in her? Trust her?

Of course, she could have forced the curse on him. She could have demanded he take her code before he and Suzaku completed the Requiem. But she didn't. She offered, oh yes she offered. She said he had something to live for still unlike her. Everyone she cared for was long dead and buried, with the exception of him. But he…he still had people who loved him. People who relied on him…who would be glad he was alive.

He declined then. This was his punishment and his atonement. For all the sin he committed. For cursing and murdering his sweet little sister. For breaking Nunnally's heart. And he would take it in full. He couldn't shirk out on it. It didn't feel right. The world needed a scapegoat. Some cause to unite them…that blurred the lines that separated humanity. In showing lenience to no one…not family or nobility or the strong or the weak…Lelouch had destroyed prejudice. He gave no favor and united the people of the world by so doing.

But should he trust C.C. now? And could he live with himself for backing out now, on the cusp of the netherworld? Could he refuse? He peered at her skeptically.

"Is this really a choice?"

"This is your choice Lelouch. That's why you're here. You can move on and go to C's world, or you can accept the deal."

He nodded slowly. "Theoretically if I decide to go…"

"Of course there are conditions."

Lelouch sighed. "Naturally….I'd thought so. What's the catch?"

"You can't reveal who you really are to anyone unless you have my permission first. Not even Suzaku or Nunnally. No one. Even if they guess, you can say nothing or else I'll see to it that you are on the first express train back here." C.C. said darkly. Lelouch flinched slightly. It wasn't in her nature to make threats and when she did…well they were never idle. "You'll have sixteen years to flesh out your life…your new identity. On your sixteenth birthday I'll be coming to collect you. I require five years of your life, Lelouch. Five years and then every year after that is yours to spend however you should choose, even in the company of old friends. I promise nothing damning shall happen to you so long as you complete the mission I give you and survive."

"Oh is that all?" Lelouch ask semi-sarcastically. He kept his face decidedly neutral, yet from the way C.C. was smirking at him she knew what his answer was. He'd agree. He knew it and she knew it. The only obstacle left was him to actually say the word.

"…Alright…we have a deal."

She grinned and wrapped her hands around his neck. "Excellent." Her lips crashed into his. He found himself wondering if it was really necessary for her to seal the deal with a kiss less than chaste. The next instant it didn't matter any more as the entire world faded away once more.

* * *

><p>"979..."<p>

Nunnally passed off a freshly-made crane to Sayoko. She took the time to neatly print down the number on its wing before adding it to the massive trove of cranes nearby. Nunnally had already moved onto the next. Her nimble fingers methodically worked around the paper, numbly folding it at all the appropriate angles. Her face was pinched in concentration…far more focus than was necessary to fold in all honesty, but Sayoko didn't dare attempt to engage the young empress in conversation. Instead she just passively watched, trying to keep her face blank despite the worry creeping into her heart.

Nunnally wasn't crying now, but what she was doing was almost worse in Sayoko's opinion. It had been almost two month since Lelouch died and Nunnally was…a complete mess. For some time she holed up in her room, refusing to come out and crying her eyes dry. But after a while…after Lelouch's phony funeral, she began putting in the occasional appearance. She was, after all, Empress of the largest nation in the world and she couldn't afford to remain sulking in her room forever. She signed treaties, broke up territories, gave press conferences and attended UFN meetings. Until Lelouch's plan cleared a week ago. The permit to launch the Damocles. The entire week following that, Nunnally seemed cracked, like it had reopened the wound. Leaving it to grow raw and infected. She seemed to lose her livelihood once more. Two a.m. yesterday morning, she'd woken Sayoko, her voice dead and her appearance disheveled.

"986…"

She demanded a thousand sheets of clean paper and started folding the instant Sayoko returned with them. Forty-eight hours later and she had scantly done anything else, her fingers moving with a constant practiced rhythm. She looked awful…she'd slept maybe five hours in the last two days and woke up screaming every time she dosed off. She wouldn't say what she dreamed about, but then she didn't have to.

Sayoko and the others had offered to help several times now, but Nunnally slapped them away every time, showing a bit of her brother's stubbornness. She said it was her burden to bear and that she wanted to fold a thousand before launch.

"990…"

A flicker of fire seemed to glow in Nunnally's eyes for an instant before they deadened once more. At long last her goal was within reach. Sayoko marked the crane off and set it amongst the others just in time to see Zero cross the threshold. He inclined his head to her.

"Lady Nunnally…I'm going to step out for a moment. I'll be just in the other room if you need me." She said. Nunnally's only response was a non-committal grunt, her hands still fiddling with the latest bird's neck. Zero followed her out, his cape billowing behind him like a set of wings.

"How is she?" He asked in muted Japanese.

Sayoko sighed. "Still the same. I can't get her to stop. She's cut her fingers a few times even on the paper yet she won't even pause to let me bandage them. Says her blood is a small price to pay."

Sayoko imagined Suzaku was frowning behind the mask. "The ceremony is in about an hour and a half. We want to get it underway before the reporters catch on."

Sayoko pressed her lips together. "I wish I knew what to say to her…" Sayoko cared for Nunnally like her own. Even if Lelouch hadn't made her swear to watch out for her, Sayoko would still have fought tooth and nail to ensure her safety. She'd been with Lelouch and Nunnally since not long after they came to Ashford Academy. Milly's grandfather hired her to protect them from danger; there was still a very real chance that both children would be assassinated or otherwise attacked for their heritage should it ever come into light.

It had just been a job at first. A way to regain her assists in the wake of the war. And something to keep her mind busy. She'd lost her own son during the war and his father long before. Her job was secure and fairly easy; Lelouch was largely self-sufficient and even Nunnally scantly required aid. And Nunnally's every whim was normally catered to by Lelouch, cutting out Sayoko as the middleman. Without much else to do, Sayoko was left with a lot of free time. Lelouch was naturally distrustful of her at first; it wasn't in his nature to entrust his baby sister's safety with just anyone. He'd try to bait her sometimes to ensure she wasn't a spy or a reporter undercover. But gradually she'd been allowed in to their little world, becoming privy to some of the most private moments between the siblings. Including the secret of their heritage.

And she grew attached to both of them. They were respectful, kind, and easy to be around. Even when Lelouch less than trusted her, he still treated her with courtesy and not even the slightest touch of prejudice do to her race. Really it was no wonder she became fond of them. They became like family to her.

Which is why this really bothered her. What Nunnally was doing wasn't healthy. If she kept going on like this, she would run out of steam. But Sayoko didn't know what she could do to help her. It was killing her. And she suspected Suzaku felt similarly, although really it was shocking that he hadn't already been crushed beneath the sheer weight of his emotions.

"I know." Suzaku responded. "Believe me I know. The only way to really put an end to this is to move onward. Keep on forward…have her ready soon."

Sayoko had to hold in her words as he turned to leave. It wasn't her place to mother Suzaku. He wasn't Lelouch. But even so, she knew how he'd been over the last couple months. Nunnally was letting herself drown in her grief while Suzaku wasn't letting it in at all. That wasn't good for him either.

Still, Sayoko went back into the room and found Nunnally asleep in her wheelchair, a half-finished paper crane closed in her hands. She deftly slipped it out of her hands and made the last couple folds then labeled its wing. Number 999. Maybe she couldn't help Nunnally handle her grief, but she could at least help her with this, she thought as she folded the final crane. One thousand.

Gently, she put the finished crane in Nunnally's hand and shook her awake lightly. "Mistress Nunnally. You dozed off. I see you finished."

"I did?" Nunnally asked groggily. She glanced down at the crane in her hand and smiled lightly. It was the first time Sayoko had seen her smile for quite some time.

"Yes. Zero was by. The ceremony is in an hour and a half. Shall we get you ready?"

Nunnally consented, but not before asking Sayoko to send for someone to bring the cranes down.

An hour and a half later Nunnally looked every bit like the Empress she was. Sayoko realized that she was proud of the woman Nunnally was becoming. She grew more and more beautiful every year and no less kind than the little girl she'd been introduced to so long ago.

Sayoko wheeled her down to the airfield. The Damocles was docked on the first receptacle, looking every bit as splendorous as it had the first time they'd seen it. Like a castle glimmering in the sun. Sayoko thought she saw tears shimmering in Nunnally's eyes but she kept silent as they met with Zero. Suzaku took over pushing Nunnally after that but Sayoko walked a couple paces behind, in case Nunnally should need her.

It was in the Damocles' garden, midst the rosebuds and lilacs. A single casket with a glass panel, so they could see his peaceful face. He'd died with a smile, forever frozen on his face. Stacked all around him were Nunnally's cranes, making a beautiful display of his sister's love. Master Lelouch…

Sayoko and the small team of Nunnally's bodyguards remained a respectful few yards back as Zero wheeled Nunnally to the casket. Nunnally reached a hand out, touching the glass enveloping her brother's face. "Oni-sama…I love you."

Zero rested his hand on Nunnally's shoulder as they both just sat there in silence for a long moment. Sayoko figured that both of them were having trouble maintaining their composure.

And then Suzaku wheeled Nunnally away. Sayoko and the others followed in solemn silence. The other guards were geassed by Lelouch to protect Nunnally under very specific orders. They wouldn't speak of this. No one would even know Lelouch's body was here. Or that the grave was empty. Any graverobbers would likely assume that someone had beaten them to the hull when really, there was no hull. Even here, the most precious item Lelouch had with him was the cranes his sister had lovingly folded. That boy really did think of everything. How many people planned such an elaborate send off?

Sayoko brought a hand up to her face, surprised when it came away wet. Had she been crying? Perhaps. It wasn't out of question…

As they exited the airship, Sayoko noticed a visible change in Nunnally. One she'd seen over and over on her brother. She was slipping behind a mask, hiding what she was really feeling. The mask of an innocent smile that had come to warm the hearts of the world since she took the throne. Sayoko too steeled her emotions.

It wasn't without reason. They were met as they exited by the flash of cameras and reporters calling out Nunnally's name behind velvet ropes. Nunnally met Prime Minister Ohgi and his Diet with a firm handshake. He offered her a tender smile and joined her right side. Nearby were a good many Knightmares standing guard. On the sidelines, Sayoko heard Milly narrating.

"Today is a day for history as Empress Nunnally vi Britannia and other worldly leaders gather together to launch the Sky Fortress Damocles into space. In accordance to UFN Act Number 101, the Damocles has been deemed a weapon of terrible power and is to be destroyed.

"However, the predicament of just how to destroy the Damocles became a hotly disputed issue. The raw parts of the Sky fortress are both radio active and highly sensitive. It was scientist Nina Einstein who proposed that the Damocles be launched into the sun.

"Miss Einstein, who has a firm understanding of how mass weapons such as the Damocles opperate being that she is the inventor of both F.L.E.I.J.A. and the Countermeasure F.L.E.I.J.A., believes that incinerating the parts of the Fortress at high temperatures will allow the chemicals to harmlessly disburse into space. The F.L.E.I.J.A.s kept on the Damocles however must be disposed of in a proper nuclear disposal plant.

"The Damocles has been programmed with the appropriate coordinates and will be launching only momentarily, as you can see behind me. In accordance to the Imperial Mandate however, the fortress will not be launched until the Empress gives the go ahead."

Sayoko and the others moved a fair distance away. Sayoko turned her attentions to Nunnally. Once again, Nunnally was holding the switch. One push of a button and the Damocles would be gone forever, taking Lelouch with it. Her hands were faintly trembling over the release. If she pushes this button, she's accepting that Lelouch is gone. Sending the last piece of him away to be incinerated, like he never existed. Sayoko sympathized. She made no move to comfort her—it would be improper—but she willed Nunnally to be strong. She could let go of him. She'd be fine. She was her brother's sister and she could do it.

"Nunnally," Suzaku said quietly. "It's time."

It wasn't words of encouragement but it was enough. She pressed the button. Instantly the boosters on the Damocles flared to life, sending a gust of wind their way that blew Sayoko's dress backwards as the great fortress haltingly rose into the sky. It ascended, higher and higher in the sky. Like a floating isle from a fairytale. The boosters gave it more speed and it barreled through the atmosphere, climbing until it was a speck in the sky.

It was a breathtaking sight that had them all captivated but none more so than Nunnally. She watched it with an unreadable expression.

"Do you know what I wished for?" Nunnally asked softly.

"I believe I do." Suzaku answered. "Because I wished for the same thing."

Sayoko knew as well. She'd wished for it too.

Nine months later, that wish came true in a way no one would expect…

* * *

><p><strong>Until next time,<strong>

**~Crisi**


End file.
